The Coalbanks - Blaenavon 1882 SS Edition

Sale price Price $ 2,499.00 CAD Regular price

You are looking at a piece of history repurposed for your wrist. This manually wound timepiece is made from 135 year old train track pried from the hillside of our hometown, Lethbridge, Alberta. This durable steel rail, manufactured by Blaenavon Ironworks of Wales in 1882, became the backbone of the coal mining industry and was an integral piece of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was sourced from the Galt No. 8 Mine site, which closed in 1957, and was a catalyst of economic development in aptly named Coalbanks (since changed to Lethbridge), as well as neighbouring towns Coalhurst and Coaldale. Larry Christmas, a previous chairman of the History and Heritage Committee of the Coal Association of Canada said: “The Galt No. 8 Mine site represents one of the most important abandoned coal mines in Canada...”

By 1800 Blaenavon Ironworks contributed greatly to South Wales becoming the foremost iron-producing region in the world. Production at Blaenavon was second only to Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, the largest iron producer in Wales.Two new furnaces were added over the next decade and in 1804 a forge was constructed in nearby Cwmavon. By 1833 the company owned 430 houses and employed 1000 workers. By 1878 the company employed 5,000 people.

After years of facilitating coal transport at the Galt Mine this quality steel rail, left abandoned over half a century, now functions as the dial of our hand built and individually numbered timepiece. The strap is made from none other than Hermann Oak leather from one of the finest tanneries in the USA. This edition comes housed in a Canadian-made wood box. And of course the craftsmen who make your watch are human, not machines, ensuring your timepiece is completely unique in finish. Because our watches are made by hand, please allow for minor differences in colour and texture. We hope you love it as much as we loved making it.

Only 15 manual timepieces will be forged and finished using this piece of Wales and Canada’s shared history.